from the molecular-rotor-rooters-fan dept.
Senior Associate TomMcKendree alerts us to The Age of Transitions by Newt Gingrich: "Nanotechnology is probably twenty years away but it may be at least as powerful as space or computing in its implications…This approach to manufacturing will save energy, conserve our raw materials, eliminate waste products and produce a dramatically healthier environment. The implications for the advancement of environmentalism and the irrelevancy of oil prices alone are impressive….Imagine drinking with your normal orange juice 3,000,000 molecular rotor rooters to clean out your arteries without an operation." Read More for further comments from Tom. Comment below on your views of Newt: useful to us or not? Senior Associate TomMcKendree writes "Newt Gingrich has floated off into cyberspace, where, amongst other things, he has posted his essay "Age of Transitions" In this essay, he makes the point that we are in an information revolution, and that another revolution, "based on a combination of biology, information and nanoscience" is coming in the next twenty years, and will be even more momentous. Newt means nanoscience broadly, not just molecular nanotechnology, and he seems to miss some details, but includes some MNT visions (such as the venerable "molecular rotor rooters to clean out your arteries").
I do not know which way the memes are drifting (they may for example be coming from some third party), but I saw the same triangle of biology, information and nanoscience (with more detail) on pages 17-22 of the presentation Integrated Aerospace Transportation: Vision and Challenges at the NASA Turning Goals Into Reality Conference.
The part I liked the most about Newt's essay was the sense that "hey, this is a draft. I may be wrong in part, and am looking for suggestions and improvements." The part I liked the least was the relentless focus on how to exploit these transitions to achieve a dominant partisan advantage. I would not be too sad if Bush and Gore both said they thought nanotechnology is important, but I would hate to see them fighting over it. "
